Echizen Sama
by xSakuraBlossom
Summary: COMPLETE, but up for adoption. Echizen Ryoma is the heir to a rich family. This is what happens to him during his first year of Junior High.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own PoT. I don't claim to own PoT. I'm pretty sure either scenario would land me in jail- I don't want to do drugs anyways.

Echizen-sama

Ryoma walked calmly to school. It was a cold morning, quite cold for the beginning of autumn, yet he wore only a light jacket and his customary cap. The first day of Junior High… Ryoma pulled his cap low over his eyes and smiled slightly. He wondered what his new school would be like- but from the looks of things, it was already going to be interesting.

Tezuka took a sharp breath. When had the young master disappeared? He was certain he hadn't taken his eyes off him… Suddenly, Tezuka felt the cold blade of a knife at his throat. He swallowed, feeling the prick of the sharp edge on his neck. The soft voice in his ear whispered, "Who are you and why are you following me?" Tezuka froze. He hadn't expected this. Keeping his cool demeanor, he answered his master smoothly, "I am one of the bodyguards sent to keep track of you." There was a snort. "In other words, someone sent by my idiot of a grandmother then. She doesn't trust me to take care of myself."

"Actually, your grandmother does not order us. She died some time ago, although that information was not released to the public yet. Your father is the one ordering us."

Ryoma's eyes narrowed. So, either these people were telling the truth, or they had done their research. But, first things first.

"Call out all your men. There's 7 more of you, get them all out here."

Tezuka couldn't help but be surprised, but he didn't show it in any way. He'd been told that his young master was rather sharp, but he hadn't expected this degree of watchfulness. It just went to show that letting one's guard down was never advisable. "All of you, come out."

As the figures melted out of the shadows and surrounded Ryoma and Tezuka, Ryoma braced himself. If they were truly after him, they would attack now. But instead, they stood silently in a circle, awaiting orders from their leader.

Ryoma shifted slightly. Trying to keep his feet on the ground while whispering in the tall man's ear was rather difficult. But he had to be sure. He said slowly, "All right then, since you were sent by my father, what is the password?"

Tezuka swallowed again, but he had an idea of what he should answer. "There is no password, your father never uses those things."

Ryoma sighed and took his knife off the older man's throat. "I apologize then, but I had to check, didn't I?" he smiled cockily at his guard.

Tezuka nodded in agreement. "I agree that it was necessary. However, I regret that we were not introduced before this, thereby eliminating the need for you to question me like this. However, I must say, I was surprised by your skill in finding every one of us. You are extremely talented."

Ryoma just grinned, receiving the praise in stride, but his eyes were still wary. "Where's the last one? I said there were seven of you. Why is he still in that tree?"

Tezuka turned, startled. Yes, there were only 6 other people here besides himself and Ryoma. His eyes narrowed. "Kikumaru, when we get to school, 20 laps for sleeping on the job." …No response. "30 laps." Still nothing. Tezuka turned to his second in command, Oishi. "Get Kikumaru down. I'll escort the young master to school, else we'll be late." Oishi nodded, then raced over to the tree in question. "Eiji! Oi, Eiji! Get down from there!" … Still no response. Oishi let out a soft sigh. He didn't have any choice. Bending down, he picked up a handy pinecone, hefting it briefly in his palm before firing it upwards with surprising strength.

A slim redhead tumbled from the branches, flipping in midair and landing gracefully on his feet while rubbing his head. "Oi, Oishi, there was no need to throw it that hard! Why couldn't you have just yelled?" Oishi let out a sigh. "I did. You didn't hear me."

Sighing, Tezuka turned to his young master. "Do you mind if we go back into hiding? It's safer for you if nobody knows you're important enough to have bodyguards." Ryoma just pulled his cap lower. "Do as you like." It was going to be an interesting year.

***

The group traveled to school, careful to enter in ones and twos at carefully calculated intervals. Nobody could know that they were guarding the master. After all, he even had a different name here, expressly to prevent people from knowing that he was the heir to the Echizen fortune.

As Ryoma walked to the front desk, Tezuka watched from a safe distance. New students had to talk to the office first and receive their schedules, as well as a map of the campus. Seigaku was a rather large school, after all.

"Name?" "Takeda Saicho." "Oh, you're a freshman, hmm?" "Yes." "Ok then, here's your schedule, and here's the map of the campus. Your classes have been color-coded to the map, so you can find your way easily. Get your teachers to sign your schedule at each class, so that we know that you can get around the campus to each one. Bring the schedule back at the end of the day, ok?" "Hai."

Tezuka let out a rare smile as his master walked away. Takeda Saicho… nothing to do with the Echizen family at all, unless you knew their background very, very well. Takeda was the last name of Ryoma's mother's aunt. His mother's maiden name was Mitsuki, but her aunt had married a Takeda, hence the name. And Saicho was the name of his uncle's best friend in grade school; that Saicho had been a poor one, so nobody had taken notice of him, making it a hard name to place. Those two names couldn't be traced back to the Echizen family easily, but were close enough to Ryoma that he could remember them easily. Tezuka was proud of him.

They made their way to class. However, there was a problem here. Ryoma-sama was, after all, a full year younger than any of them. The rest of the group assigned to watch him were all second or third years, while Ryoma was a first year. How would they watch him if he wasn't in the same class?

Simple. Someone would have to infiltrate as a teacher. Preferably 2 people.

Hence the need for 'Inui-sensei' and 'Tezuka-sensei'. They wouldn't actually be teachers, just student teachers, the ones that kind of sit in the corner and take notes while the teacher speaks, and occasionally teaches the class while the actual teacher goes to get coffee. It was a harsh job, yes, one that wouldn't receive any recognition, but it was the only way to keep track of their young master. In any case, those would only be when nobody else had a spare; if someone had a spare, they would keep an eye on Ryoma-sama through a window, or just outside the door. They already had it all planned out long ago.

Ryoma walked into his first lesson- English. He sat down at his desk, pulled out his books, and prepared to sleep. It was a good thing it was English first, as it gave him a chance to get some more sleep. He was always sleepy in the mornings.

The bell rang, signaling the start of class. Automatically, Ryoma stood up, yawning as he did so. The teacher walked in. She looked like a harmless old lady, with wrinkled skin and a kind smile. Ryoma chuckled silently to himself. Looked like English would be a breeze.

"Class! Come to attention!" Ryoma jolted straight as the "sweet" old lady barked out orders. Was that really her voice yelling at the class? "Now, I'll have you know, English is a very important subject! People everywhere speak English! No matter where you go, English is a common language! So we have to be able to speak it, read it, hear it, manipulate it as we wish! Towards that end, we will start off the year with a small pop quiz. This is to test how well you listened in class last year! This will be the first assessment of the term, so make sure you do well!" Still with that deceiving kind smile on her face, the old lady turned to the door. "Assistant teacher, please hand out the tests."

Ryoma nearly keeled over sideways when Inui walked in. It wasn't Inui that surprised him. After all, Ryoma had expected to see those bodyguards around the school. No, what surprised him was what he was holding.

There were about 30 people in his class, a pretty average class size. Inui was carrying a stack of papers about 3 feet high- he was struggling to see where he was going. Ryoma just stared in shock at the tests. Oh god. He might actually need to pay attention in class this year.

Soon, the classroom settled down and all Ryoma could hear was the scratching of pencils on paper. He quickly finished the first grammar section, and moved to the next part. Reading comprehension. He flipped through the selection, registering dimly that the story incredibly long. 5 pages, double sided, for a small "quiz"? The teacher was mad. He quickly did the few multiple choice questions here, then stared at the paragraph answer. She had to be mad. This was impossible.

"How does the descriptive language affect the mood of this piece?"

Crap. This was like a test he'd written in America, for native English speakers. There was no way a Japanese person, with English as a second language, could possibly do this. Although he might be able to… he quickly started forth.

Theme first… then relate the descriptive language to the mood… which relates back to the theme… Ryoma quickly fell back into the familiar writing pattern he'd used in America.

The bell rang as he was halfway through the test. He looked up, startled. "Crap," he muttered. Sighing, he flipped the test back to the first page and prepared to hand it in. As he did so, he saw something that made his face lose all color.

Just under the instructions was a note by the teacher. "Only do the multiple choice questions. We will do some of the paragraphs another day. This was used as a longer exam for more advanced students, so I do not expect you to finish this in the allotted time today."

Pale and shaking, Ryoma handed his test in, then stumbled outside. How could he have made such a stupid mistake? He never read the instructions, yes, but still, he'd missed such a clear note, and created so much more trouble for himself. Why? Why? For possibly the first time in his life, Ryoma felt an overwhelming urge to whack his head against something hard. Preferably a wall somewhere that wouldn't mind him bleeding all over it.

Inui stared in consternation after his young charge. What had he seen to make him go so white? Was there a secret note somewhere that threatened his life? He thought back to how Ryoma-sama had acted this morning. Cool, collected, even in the face of a possible ambush by 8 men; he was truly a force to be reckoned with. Nothing less than a note threatening his life could possibly have that effect on him. Inui had to tell Tezuka immediately. They would need to double the guard, ensure that nothing happened to the young master.

Still rather pale, Ryoma made his way to his next class. Ugh… math. Why math? He hated math. All those stupid formulae, numbers, signs, all in stupid situations that would never be used in real life. Yeah, he was good at it, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Why did he have to know this stuff?

As he walked into class, he noticed a green flash by the window.

Eyes narrowing instantly, he made his way cautiously to the window in question. He opened it, and leaned out, braced for any attack.

He looked down, and saw Kaidoh's face red with the effort of holding on to the window ledge. The green flash had been his bandana. Ryoma nearly groaned. This was the second floor, for crying out loud! Sighing, he pointed silently to a place a few meters to Kaidoh's right.

Just past the border of the window, there was a ledge, an overhanging for the door below. Kaidoh turned even redder, if that was possible. Grunting slightly, Kaidoh carefully made his way to the convenient ledge and let out a breath as he dropped onto it. Turning, he gave a thumbs-up sign to Ryoma, who turned and went back into the classroom. It was a good thing for Kaidoh that his seat was near the window.

Yawn… stupid algebra and stuff… Ryoma sighed. Why did he have to learn this stupid math stuff? Suddenly he thought of an idea. He grinned as he surreptitiously passed a worksheet and a pencil to Kaidoh. Kaidoh looked at him with confusion, and Ryoma merely grinned wider. He ripped a scrap of paper off of his notebook, wrote something on it, then passed it to Kaidoh.

"Do my math homework please." Kaidoh stared at the piece of paper in consternation, then looked back at the worksheet in his hand. "Crap," he muttered. Just his luck. His worst subject, and he had to do it for his master? Argh. Well, at least he'd done some of this before, although he had nearly failed. He squinted at the first section. "Solve for x." He let out a low hiss. Could he do it properly?

At the end of class, the teacher asked for the worksheets. Ryoma smiled as Kaidoh passed him the papers. He scanned the work quickly, and nearly fell over in shock.

3x=9 x = 6

5x+2=8 x = 5

x+6=9 x=15

Ryoma let out a curse. Who knew that his guard was so bad at math? Ryoma may have hated math, but he wasn't bad at it. Well, it was his fault for making Kaidoh do it. Ryoma sighed again as he handed in his worksheets. Well, maybe he would be able to bring his mark up in the future. Maybe he'd get extra marks for "improving."

Kaidoh frowned as he saw the look on his master's face. He really wasn't looking very good. Had something really happened as Inui had said? There was definitely something wrong here. He would have to report back to Tezuka.

***

Ryoma looked up at the sky. He had been lucky to discover this place. It seemed that few people came up to the roof here. It was nice to have some peace and quiet once in a while.

He let out a sigh. Who knew that school would be this hectic? He'd never had any problems like this in grade school. He'd breezed through that quite easily. Although, he mused, it was mainly his fault. He never made such stupid mistakes in grade school. He winced again as he thought of the error on the English test. God, that was the stupidest mistake he'd ever made. And then, relying on a guard to do his homework… Ryoma paled again as he thought of the utter incompetence Kaidoh had shown at math. Well, it just went to show that he couldn't rely on anyone else. He would have to be more careful in future.

Tezuka frowned. After what Inui and Kaidoh had said, he thought it was quite clear that there was something wrong with the young master. It was quite possible that there had in fact been some threatening note somewhere, and his attitude now only confirmed that further. Considering how unsettled he was now, it was practically certain that there had been a threat on his life. Tezuka pushed his glasses up. Well, he would just have to ensure that Ryoma-sama stayed safe. He would need to keep a closer eye on him- without him knowing, of course.

Well, time to get back to class. Ryoma stood and brushed off his clothes. As he did so, a small slip of paper fell to the ground.

"I'll be waiting for you after school at the cherry tree. ~S"

Ryoma let out a sigh. That girl had passed him the note during Science. He wondered who she was. Maybe she just wanted to show him around or something. Well, he supposed that he would have to go. Shrugging, he left the note where it was, and left the rooftop.

Tezuka's sharp eyes had seen that scrap of paper float to the ground. Eyes narrowing, he strode over- as soon as Ryoma-sama was gone, of course- and picked it up. Eyes wide, he stared at the small message, written in clear, neat writing. This was bad. It was the first day, and already he had someone after him? S… could it be the Shirayukis? Tezuka contacted the others immediately. They would need to ensure their master's safety, especially from this hostile gang.

***

Gulping, Ryoma made his way to the cherry tree. He really was uncomfortable around girls. He always didn't know what to say. And he always ended up making them cry or something. It sucked. But, he couldn't exactly not show up… that would just create more problems, also ending up with tears on the girl's part. Ugh… he hated situations like these.

From his vantage point on the roof, Tezuka observed the situation. His binoculars let him see the scene clearly. At the moment, the unknown "S" hadn't shown up yet, but his master was already looking very unsettled. It was definitely something bad, to unnerve him to this degree. Even surrounded by 8 possibly hostile people, Ryoma-sama hadn't lost his cool. This must be very serious.

Ryoma gulped. She was here. That long hair in 2 braids, the shy blush… there was no doubt about it. She was the girl from Science. He cleared his throat and attempted to look cool.

"Ne… Takeda-san… thanks for meeting here with me today…"

WHAM! Ryoma blinked, and suddenly that Ryuzaki girl wasn't there any more. He looked around, then finally looked down. At his feet, Momoshiro had tackled the girl, bringing her down. He yelled, "Taka-san! Get the rope!"

"Rope?" Ryoma started to say, but his voice was drowned out by a loud "BURNING!" He looked up to see Kawamura making a diving leap towards the pair on the ground.

Tezuka, from his place on the roof, let out a curse. There was no mistaking that long brown hair. It wasn't the Shirayukis, as they had thought. It was far, far worse.

The Akashiyas had come for him, likely signing the note "S" to confuse them. Tezuka started running down the stairs, barking orders through his communication device as he went. He raced down to the scene, only to discover that Momo and Kawamura had already subdued the Akashiya. Eyes narrowed, Tezuka stood over the young girl who was doing a good job of acting frightened. He leaned down and hissed, "Akashiya, what do you want with our master?"

Ryoma put a hand over his eyes in horror. Why had it come to this? Stupid bodyguards. Stupid stupid people. He couldn't even talk to a girl without them interfering? He groaned. Instantly, Fuji and Oishi were at his side. "What's wrong? Did she hurt you?" Ryoma gritted his teeth. Finally, he barked out, "STOP!" Instantly, all movement ceased, and 9 pairs of eyes turned to stare at him.

"What do you think you're doing? I just came here to talk with her. She's a girl in my class, for crying out loud! Can't I even talk to people without you guys barging in?" Ryoma started ranting. He knew he was ranting. But he couldn't stop. It seemed that, as soon as these bodyguards had entered his life, everything had become that much more complicated.

Tezuka tried to explain, "This girl is an Akashiya, one of your family's greatest enemies-" Ryoma cut him off incredulously. "Akashiya? You think she's an Akashiya? Look again. Look at her eyes." They looked. He was right; the eyes were nothing like an Akashiya's. An Akashiya always had dark, slightly red-tinted eyes. This girl had soft, warm, chocolaty eyes. Sighing, Ryoma pulled his cap down over his eyes. "Do you really think I would be so stupid as to meet with an Akashiya? I know their traits almost as well as I know the Echizens' traits. I can tell who they are."

Inui pushed up his glasses. "Well, according to my data, there was a 70% chance of you receiving some threatening note, judging from your behavior in class." Ryoma turned to stare at him, shocked, but Inui continued as though nothing had happened. "When Tezuka saw the note that was signed 'S', it corresponded to earlier data too well. We couldn't believe that it was coincidence. Then, when the person that showed up appeared to have similar traits to one of your enemies, the chance that something was wrong rocketed to 98%. Too many coincidences and several of our miscalculations led to this end. We apologize for this."

Ryoma just closed his eyes again. God, why had it come to this? Why? Why did he have to go through this all the time? Why? He pried his eyes open slightly to glare at his bodyguards. "Ok then, first things first, let her go. She's perfectly innocent." Sighing, Momo and Kawamura climbed off poor Sakuno, apologizing profusely as they undid the ropes.

Sakuno was still kind of stunned on the ground, unmoving. Just who was Takeda Saicho anyways? Why had he been so fiercely guarded? Why would the Akashiya's be after him? Weren't the Akashiya's one of those big rich families? None of it seemed to make sense. As she slowly stood up, she resolved silently to find out the truth behind Takeda and the group that was after him.

Ryoma resisted the urge once again to injure himself in some way. And he'd been looking forwards to starting Junior High fresh, without stupid attempts on his life or crazy admirers chasing after him all the time. He'd thought that changing his name and having guards would help. But in a way, these bodyguards were even worse, making his life hell.

He could see that this year was going to be a long, _long_ year.

A/N: Ok, I'm going to continue this. This won't be a long story though, we'll see where it goes! As asked for, there will be no pairings in this story. Ryoma and Sakuno will just be friends. So, review please!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own PoT. I don't own PoT. I don't own PoT. Ok, I think I convinced myself.

Ch. 2

Surprisingly, a month had already passed since that terrible first day of Junior High. Echizen Ryoma- er, Takeda Saicho- was slowly falling into the pattern of school days in Seigaku. He'd learned to watch out for that English teacher, to sit as far away from Ryuzaki as he could during Science, to eat the junk that they called food in the cafeteria. Actually, he still tried to bring lunch as much as possible. That so-called food was just not edible.

"Takeda-san!" Ryoma groaned. There she was again. That Ryuzaki girl. He was avoiding her for a reason, but she never seemed to get that.

Ever since the first day, she'd been determined to discover his "secret". She didn't have any idea what it might be, but she'd been certain that he had one. After all, what Junior High kid had 8 bodyguards, and was enemies with the Akashiyas?

Sakuno practically bounced up to Takeda-san. She was delighted with the turn of events. Grinning, she pointed to the flyer in her hand, practically shoving it in Takeda-san's face.

Before meeting Takeda-san, she'd never been an outgoing girl. She was one of the quiet ones that sat in the back of the classroom, never being noticed by anyone. All her friends always laughed about how shy she was. Only one of her friends knew her true personality. Why else would Tomoka be friends with her?

Cheerfully, she said, "Look! It's a dance! Next Friday! Come on, you've got to go! Half the girls in the school want to dance with you! You're smart, quiet, cool, sophisticated, everyone wants you to be there! You've got to go!"

Ryoma just managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Sakuno had been so much easier to handle when she was quiet and unassuming. Her exuberance was something Ryoma had yet to encounter, and therefore hard to deal with.

And of course, her comments struck a nerve. How was he smart when he screwed up so badly on the first day? How was he quiet when he was screaming with rage about his stupid bodyguards? How was he cool when his temper was so fiery? How was he sophisticated when he glared at everyone around him? He had a horrible feeling that she was mocking him.

But it would be a new experience, he mused. After all, at his former schools, he'd never been allowed to go to a dance or any other social event, just in case someone tried to hurt him. Now, though, he wasn't that rich heir Echizen Ryoma- he was just plain old Takeda Saicho. Nobody would ever come after him, right?

Annoyed, Ryoma pulled his cap down over his eyes. He did want to go. That was what annoyed him. In the end, he really was a rich heir. He shouldn't want to go to some stupid dance.

Sighing, he gave in., and muttered, "Fine, I'll go." Delighted, Sakuno leapt at him, latching onto him in a tight hug, even as he squawked and protested. "I knew you'd come!" she exclaimed, ignoring his struggling. When she released him, she had a smile on her face about a mile wide. Ryoma very nearly groaned. Just what had he gotten himself into?

***

Nervously, Ryoma kept his back to the wall, an old habit that sprang up whenever he was anxious. He'd learned from his father long ago that it was always best in a hostile situation to keep your back against the wall so you wouldn't get ambushed. Though he wasn't likely to be ambushed here, he felt nervous and out of place, so he stuck against the wall.

"Come on, Ryoma, come out and dance!" Vehemently, Ryoma shook his head, glaring at Sakuno. No, of course it hadn't been a bad idea to come to this dance. It wasn't like he couldn't dance or anything… oh right, he couldn't. That was why he was glued to the wall- he'd never danced before, and he wasn't about to start making a fool of himself now.

Sakuno rolled her eyes, but she stayed near Saicho, leaning against the wall herself. She wasn't very comfortable with dancing either. Enjoying the music, she closed her eyes for a brief second, letting the beat of the drum throb through her.

Maybe it was because her eyes were closed, but somehow Sakuno felt the exact moment when Saicho disappeared. It could have been the strange sound that clashed with the music-it sounded something like a door opening. It could have been the feel of cold air as someone opened a door- or maybe the rush of air was because Saicho had been pulled away. Whatever had alerted her, it made her eyes snap open, and she barely caught the door closing out of the corner of her eye. Where Saicho had been leaning, there had been a hidden door, one that nobody else seemed to have noticed. Not even Saicho. And Sakuno had just been able to see it swing shut.

She bit her lip, looking frantically about for Saicho's strange friends. Those eight people had tried to capture her because they thought she had wanted to harm him. They were loyal to Saicho. But no matter how she hard she looked, she couldn't find them. Finally, she let out a breath, and examined the door again. It really was well-hidden; only someone who knew it was there would have been able to find it. She closed her eyes briefly, steeling her nerves, then opened the door, surreptitiously slipping inside. Nobody around her noticed her absence.

However, several people observing from above saw it immediately. Tezuka stiffened, seeing the Akashiya look-alike disappear into the same door where Echizen-sama had been taken. Perhaps they had all been wrong. She still looked like an Akashiya, no matter what Echizen-sama said. She had also been right beside him when he had been kidnapped. There was no way it was just a coincidence again. It was very possible that she was involved in the kidnapping. Quickly, he contacted the others, hurrying towards the door. As he went, he warned them to be cautious- nobody should know about their operation. Ensuring that nobody else was looking his way, Tezuka entered the door, following the Akashiya look-alike. He would get to the bottom of this. Nobody would get away with harming his master.

Sakuno swallowed hard. She'd always been scared of dark places. Think of Saicho, she told herself sternly. Think of what he must be going through. Despite that, she was still pale and shaking by the time she finally saw a glimmer of light. There was a room up ahead! Seeing a couple of handy boxes by the door, she crept in and hid behind them, observing the scene through a small crack between the boxes.

Saicho was in a chair, tied tightly with rope. Despite his position, the look in his eyes was still defiant, cocky and arrogant. Around him were about 20 guys, all of them holding something black in their hands. Sakuno felt sick when she realized they were wielding guns.

One of them placed the muzzle of their gun under Saicho's chin, forcefully bringing his head up. Sakuno felt dizzy- what if they actually shot him? "Hey, Echizen Ryoma-kun," the guy slurred. He was obviously drunk- his manner, his speech, all pointed towards that fact. But why was he calling Saicho "Echizen Ryoma"?

Slowly, Sakuno started putting the pieces together. The Echizens were a very rich family- on par with the Akashiyas. It was well known that the two families had a great rivalry, although neither one had done anything illegal to the other before.

Echizen Ryoma would need bodyguards, being such a rich heir and the target of many kidnappings and ransoms. Sakuno thought back to when Saicho's friends had attacked her because they thought she was an Akashiya. Only the Echizens were enemies of the Akashiyas. And only a member of one of those families would have a need for 'friends'- Sakuno was willing to bet those eight people were actually bodyguards.

She remembered from a newspaper clipping that Echizen Ryoma had withdrawn from some American school and gone missing. Nobody had been able to find him. But what if he wasn't missing? What if he was just in hiding? As another person? As maybe… Takeda Saicho?

Sakuno gulped almost audibly. It was rather disconcerting to realize that the person you'd been friends with for a month wasn't who you thought he was. Carefully, Sakuno mouthed the name to herself. Echizen Ryoma. She liked it better than Takeda Saicho, but it didn't sound right somehow. Then, she shook her head. What was she doing? Saicho- er, Ryoma- was in mortal danger, and she was thinking about how his name sounded?

"Listen, Echizen Ryoma, we've got nothing against you personally, understand? But we do need the money. I mean, our gang's practically falling apart!"

Gang? What gang? Sakuno thought hard. The Akashiyas were a honourable family, despite being rivals with the Echizens. However, there had been some incident before where Ryoma had been taken hostage in the US. In fact, right after that, he'd disappeared. Sakuno bit her lip. Could it be the Shirayukis?

"Well, we can't kill you if we want money. But that doesn't mean that we can't hurt you." The gang leader flicked his free hand, and someone behind him grabbed a pipe, handing it to the leader. Grinning, the drunken man waved the pipe menacingly. "Oh, you're gonna get it," he said in a singsong voice.

Sakuno couldn't just watch. Ryoma was her friend, no matter what he had been hiding. The guy raised the pipe above his head, and Sakuno let out a scream. "No!" she cried, leaping out from her hiding spot. Slowed by the alcohol running through their veins, the men weren't able to catch her as she threaded through their ranks, going straight to the leader. She latched onto the pipe with all her strength, preventing him from hitting Ryoma. "I won't let you!" she cried.

But in this position, she couldn't see behind her. Ryoma watched, eyes wide with horror, as a man raised his gun and pointed it right at Sakuno. He tried to speak, but his mouth was too dry, and all he could do was croak, "No…"

The gunshot rang through the air, echoing into the silence that followed.

A/N: Hee hee! Cliffie for you! Mwahahaha! … *realizes I posted the next chappie already* damn, not much of a cliffie. Anyways, read on!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own PoT. If I did, I wouldn't be waiting so anxiously for the next chapter of New Prince of Tennis to come out. I'd be wishing that the deadline wasn't so damn near!

Ch. 3

Ryoma shut his eyes tight. He didn't want to see Sakuno's body lying limply on the ground, soaking in a pool of her own blood. He didn't want to see the leader glance behind him, realize the dead weight was gone, and turn back with an evil grin on his face. He didn't want to see the leader bring the pipe down with all his might, dealing Ryoma a terrible blow.

Damn his overactive imagination- even if he hadn't wanted to see it, he'd seen it all in his mind's eye. Still, he kept his eyes shut. Imagining the worst wasn't the same as seeing it.

There were some strange sounds, as though people were getting hit. Had somebody betrayed the leader? Unlikely, Ryoma thought to himself. These were the Shirayukis. Every member of the gang was loyal enough to change their last name to Shirayuki- hence the name of the gang. There was no way someone would betray the group.

Breaking through his thoughts was the sound of a voice calling his name frantically. His lips curved into a cynical smile. He'd gone mad. One month spent in her company, and here he was imagining her voice after her death. He supposed it wasn't normal, but considering his childhood… she had been the first friend he'd ever had. It wasn't a far stretch to realize that he would miss her like this. Even her squeaky, annoying voice sounded like the sweetest of music… now that was just plain ridiculous.

"Is he hurt? Is that why he isn't opening his eyes?" Sakuno was terrified, frightened that she hadn't been able to prevent an injury. Tezuka eyed her critically. After her display, there was no doubt that she wasn't against Ryoma, but he was still a bit cautious about her. But her eyes showed nothing but concern, wanting to know her friend's condition. Sighing, Tezuka gave in. He couldn't resist a damsel in distress. "I think he's fine. I didn't see anyone coming this way during the scuffle. He might be in shock though."

Ryoma could even hear Tezuka's voice. This was a pretty good fantasy, as fantasies went. He could hear all the people that he really wanted to be there. Sakuno was there because he wished that she were still alive. Tezuka was there because he wanted to be rescued. Imagine that, the great Echizen Ryoma wanting to be rescued.

"Echizen-sama, can you open your eyes please?" Ryoma sighed. Fine, fine, even his fantasies were telling him to wake up. He pried his eyelids open, praying the scene before him wouldn't be too bloody. If he avoided looking right in front of him, he'd be able to avoid seeing Sakuno's body.

But when he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a face, slowly swimming into focus. "T- Tezuka?" he yelled, jerking backwards in surprise. This tilted the chair, and he cried out again as his chair tipped over backwards.

Someone halted his fall, and Ryoma twisted his neck, surprised to see Oishi there as well. As he slowly got past his shock, he realized that everyone was there- all eight of his bodyguards. And standing, just behind Tezuka, with a concerned look on her pale face, was…

"Sakuno!" he yelled, relief evident in every part of his face. While he wasn't watching, Oishi had untied him, and he stood without any restraints, running directly towards Sakuno. He caught her up in a hug, reassuring himself that she truly was still alive. She squealed as he lifted her slightly off the ground in his joy that she was still here, but she just hugged him back, thankful everyone was ok.

God, it was nothing short of a miracle that everyone was ok. When she'd heard that gunshot, she'd jumped, too terrified to scream. She'd turned around, trying to see where the gunshot had been from.

Tezuka stood there with his gun pointed in the air. He had been the one to make the shot, shooting upwards so that he wouldn't hit anyone. He would never kill another person. Besides, all the people were drunk- he doubted they could even point a gun at a target 2 feet in front of them. The crowd of men stared in consternation at this new intruder, looking rather confused. Sakuno took the chance to slip out of the middle of the crowd, crouching just behind Ryoma's chair.

In a swift movement, Tezuka ducked into the crowd, disarming 3 people before they realized he was there, and taking several more guns before they could think to stop him. Someone finally swung drunkenly at him, and Tezuka easily sidestepped it before coming in and smashing his fist into the side of the guy's head. Someone lashed out at his back, and he bent forwards while kicking out backwards, kicking the would-be assailant in the gut. He straightened and immediately executed a roundhouse kick, felling yet another attacker.

At this point, the other 7 bodyguards had arrived. Sakuno watched, eyes wide, as they quickly joined their leader in the midst of the gang. Kikumaru flipped over the head of a gang member, and tackled the guy from behind, taking him down. Kaidoh's long reach allowed him to avoid other attacks while swinging easily at them. Oishi hit about him with an incredible accuracy, felling each person with one hit at most. Inui, mumbling statistics under his breath, was able to twist and avoid all attacks while fighting back skillfully. Fuji smoothly used his opponents' power against them- he'd duck under a punch and use the attacker's momentum to flip him on his back. Kawamura just barged through the crowd, and anyone who got in his way would immediately get knocked out. Momo used a mix of intuition and power, able to avoid or block attacks that by all rights should have been unavoidable, and then hitting back hard.

Within several minutes, the entire gang of 20 people was lying on the ground, either wheezing for breath, groaning in pain, or completely unconscious. Between the 8 of Ryoma's bodyguards, they'd already taken all the guns, unloading them quickly and chucking them into a corner. Then, they'd gone to Ryoma, hoping their master was still awake.

And that was when Ryoma had opened his eyes, and hugged Sakuno.

Softly, she whispered, "Are you really Echizen Ryoma?" At that, Ryoma stiffened. "How much did you hear?" he whispered, voice suddenly void of emotion. Swallowing, Sakuno replied, "Uh, I was here when they said they called you Echizen Ryoma, and said they needed the money from your ransom…" He blew out a breath. He'd known his anonymity wouldn't last long. Tiredly, he looked up at Tezuka. "She knows."

Those two words sent the group into chaos. "WHA?" cried Kikumaru, horrified that their cover had been blown so quickly. Kaidoh hissed, looking stunned. The others just looked to Tezuka, who looked as though he was carved out of stone- oh, wait, he always looked like that. He gazed at her coolly, and Sakuno shivered. What was going to happen now?

"Well, considering her actions during this incident, there is very little chance that she will tell anyone about Echizen-sama's true name." Inui said quietly. This girl was incredibly brave- and stupid, some would say- to have put herself in danger like that for her friend. With that kind of loyalty, she would never betray Ryoma.

Tezuka nodded curtly. "But that doesn't mean that others won't target her." He responded. "We'll have to implement security measures…"

A/N: Ok, one last chapter to go!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own PoT. I'm flattered that you thought I did ^^

Ch. 4

"Hey R… Saicho-kun," Sakuno greeted, sounding as perky as ever. Ryoma just glanced up from his book, and back down… and back up again. "Damn," he cursed. Well, at least he had bodyguards to take care of things this time. He let his eyes wander, under the guise of looking at the beautiful park around him.

He sought out Tezuka, who was pretending to talk amicably with Fuji as they strolled down the path. Their eyes met, and Tezuka seemed to understand immediately- the guarded expression on Ryoma's face was all he needed to see. Ryoma surreptitiously held up 8 fingers, and Tezuka nodded curtly in response. He tapped Fuji on the shoulder, whispering something into his ear, and Fuji scanned their surroundings with sharp eyes. The two nodded, and separated suddenly.

Shishido Ryo, who happened to be leaning against the shed nearby, let out a sigh. God, guard duty was so boring. He wished he could have been assigned some different job, but no, he just had to be following this little girl around…

WHAM! He never saw it coming. Within seconds, he was down, lying on the ground, with his arms being bound behind him. "Wha…" he just managed to get out before his assaulters flipped him over. He gasped as he recognized them. "You!" he snarled, struggling to get up.

Just as surprised, Fuji sat back, contemplating the situation. He would never have expected to see Shishido Ryo here, he thought. Tezuka seemed frozen. Could this possibly mean…

"Ryo-san!" the frantic voice caught their attention. Almost as one, Tezuka and Fuji turned, only to see a blur of silver as someone raced past them. "Ryo-san, are you ok? I saw you get taken down, and…" before the new intruder could untie Ryo, Fuji and Tezuka caught him and hauled him away. Ryo, seeing this, started to struggle. "You leave Chotaro alone!" he yelled, trying to come to his friend's aid. Fuji raised his eyebrows. "Oh, so it's Chotaro now, is it?" Ryo blushed a deep red, but didn't stop struggling.

And then, everyone else showed up. Atobe, Kabaji, Akutagawa, Oshitari, Mukahi, and Hiyoshi surrounded Fuji and Tezuka in a loose ring. Smirking, Atobe faced Tezuka. "So, we meet again, Tezuka," he purred, looking very self-satisfied.

"Oy! Is everything all right, nyah?" Never in his life had Tezuka been so grateful to hear Eiji's incessant voice calling out. The entire group had arrived, pushing their way into the circle and joining their leader. "Oh, Tezuka, isn't that…" Oishi started, pointing at Ryo on the ground.

"Ok, can someone explain what the hell is going on?" Immediately, everyone fell silent, turning to stare at Ryoma. He was looking annoyed- what should have been a calm day at the park had degenerated into this riot, and he hated it when his quiet time was disturbed. Eyes narrowed, he looked at each and every face there. "Tezuka," he snapped. "Who are these people? You seem to know them, don't you? Are they after me or not?"

Mukahi started to protest. "No, we're not after you, we're trying to follow that girl over there-" Oshitari clamped a hand over the redhead's mouth, but too late. Ryoma's eyes only narrowed further. "So you're after Sakuno then? Tezuka," he said warningly, indicating that an explanation was definitely needed.

Clearing his throat, Tezuka stepped forwards. "Echizen-sama," he said respectfully, "this is another set of bodyguards that is under the employment of your father. When we were young, we were rivaling groups. The bodyguards protecting you is the Seishun unit, and these people are the Hyotei unit. There are more units, but they are protecting other people in the family. We didn't recognize them right away, but they are of no harm to you." No matter how much rivalry there was between Tezuka and Atobe, he knew that Atobe would never defect to their enemies.

"So they're trying to protect Sakuno then? Baka oyajii," Ryoma muttered, feeling a headache coming on. 8 bodyguards was more than enough. Now he had to deal with 16? And they were enemies? This was going to be a fun year, he thought sarcastically.

Already, a fight had broken out between Mukahi and Kikumaru. As soon as they'd set eyes on each other, they'd gone off and started fighting. "Hey, Kikumaru, you've gotten fat!" jeered Mukahi, gracefully bending over backwards to avoid the kick aimed at his head. "And slow!" he added, flipping high over Kikumaru's head. He didn't get a chance to say anything else, as Kikumaru took the opportunity to jump upwards, flipping midair and kicking Mukahi hard.

Ryoma looked away only to see Fuji's smile looking a bit forced. Jirou was bouncing around him, asking questions delightedly. "Oh, and what about that other counter? You're so good at using people's power against them, can you tell me how?"

Tearing his eyes away from the hyper orange-haired guy, Ryoma searched for any pocket of peace, settling on Oshitari and Momo, who were actually talking civilly. In fact, they were complementing each other and exchanging tips. Although one might think that they weren't quite a likely pair, they actually had quite a bit in common, it seemed. Ryoma was relieved, thinking that the relations between the two groups weren't quite as bad as he'd thought.

But one look at the leaders was enough to convince him otherwise. Tezuka Kunimitsu and Atobe Keigo. Ryoma got chills just watching the two of them glare at each other. He wondered just how he was going to last during this year, if he had to deal with two rivaling groups like this.

Well, he thought bitterly, at least he was going to be physically safe, as would Sakuno. But he thought privately that by the end of the year, he might not be mentally sound anymore.

Being an heir was really a pain sometimes.

***

A/N: Ok, that's it. I'm done with this. I have no idea how to continue from here! I won't continue this story any further, but if anyone wants to adopt this story, feel free to do so (just drop me a line first). And I know this was a crap ending, but I had no idea how to finish it. Really.

Well, review anyways. Bad, good, terrible, worse, whatever, just tell me! If you think I shouldn't have tried to continue, tell me that too! So review! Please!


End file.
